Gift To See The Walking Spirts
by Kuroneko6
Summary: Since the death of his parents, Riku has been able to see ghosts. Now with this "gift" he comes across a brunette boy who can't seem to remember who he is. Can Riku help or will this ghost forever be lost?
1. Prologue

**Got this idea after watching 'Ghost Whisperer'. I didn't take the plotline from it so don't worry. **

**Disclaimer – don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own the plotline**

Death. Funerals. People mourning. For a young child, death doesn't come into the equation. To them it's like that person has gone away for a very long time and they'll see them again later.

For Riku of only seven, his parents past away just a week ago from a car accident. Sadly though it was on his birthday and his parents were visiting him from their work. Police said it wasn't their fault just that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. They didn't tell Riku anything as they spoke to his grandmother, though he was listening to the entire conversation by leaning his ear against the door.

It was after the funeral that Riku understood that his parents weren't coming back. He asked for them to be buried instead of cremated, so he could still talk to them even after death. So every weekend Riku would visit their grave and tell them of his week; what he did in school, who he talked to and what he did with his grandmother. Riku would also bring them small portions of their favourite foods and a drink, always finding them gone the next weekend thinking it was them.

A year later, Riku went to see his parents on his birthday. By the time he left it was already dark. As he was leaving the cemetery, he could have sworn he saw someone walking around close by. Being the curious type, Riku tried to find the person.

It took him a while, but when he eventually did, that person was looking over a grave like he had been doing. "Are you here to see someone?" Riku asked innocently. The person turned to Riku with a sad smile. It was a middle aged woman with a few scars on her face.

"You are so young to be out so late." The woman motioned for Riku to leave. "Your parents must be worried sick." Riku turned to the grave the woman was looking at.

"My parents died a year ago today. I wanted to spend all day with them." Riku pointed to the other side of the cemetery, towards the direction of his parents. "Their grave is over there. I visit them every weekend and today because it's my birthday."

"Well happy birthday love. Someone must be worried though."

"I live with my gran-gran. She's really nice and lets me come here for however long I want."

"Your gran-gran sounds like a lovely person. You must get it from her." Riku shrugged and turned his back towards the woman.

"She is. But I'd rather live with my parents." The woman simply laughed.

"Devoted to your parents I see."

"Well yea. They raised me."

"May I know their names?"

"Sephiroth is my Da, and then there's Cloud." The woman raised her eyebrow.

"So that means you must be Riku. I've heard about your parents. They're fine young fighters_. _Many young men go to war, only a handful ever return. Your parents were amoung the lucky ones that survived that horrible war." Riku raised an eyebrow but didn't turn around.

"Seph told me bits and pieces of the war, not much though." The woman laughed.

"You are more like Sephiroth than I thought. He was a noble man. Stubborn as well, like you're being now." Riku didn't reply but the woman could tell he was pouting with no comeback. "I'll be sure to tell them you're doing fine."

"Huh?" Riku turned around to see the woman was gone, like she just disappeared into thin air. "Weird lady." Shrugging Riku decided it was time to leave. The woman was right; his grandmother would be worried to some extent.

Riku ran all the way home. He wouldn't tell anybody, but his grandmother is rich and owns her own mansion in the forest of Twilight Town but because it wasn't kept in good condition everyone called it haunted. Only Riku, his grandmother and his parents knew the truth. To say the least Riku enjoyed living at the mansion. He could run and scream and listen to the echoes ringing around the mansion.

When he found his grandmother she was just finishing making dinner. Riku told her about the 'weird lady' he was talking to and when he turned around she was gone. His grandmother had sighed and told her grandson she had something important to tell him.

After dinner Riku followed his grandmother to the library or 'bookroom' as Riku called it when he was younger. He watched as his grandmother pulled a small black book from the upper shelves.

"You have been blessed with a gift" she said happily, holding the book close to her.

"A gift? What gift?" Riku had heard of many gifts people are born with. One in particular he's heard about was only a handful of people wielding a sacred weapon in the shape of a key.

"One that only exists within our family" she said handing the book to Riku. "It is the ability to see the ones who cannot be seen again." Riku stared at the book with confusion.

"I don't understand gran-gran."

She laughed. "My dear, have you ever wondered where people go when they pass away?"

"That's easy. They go back to the lifestream. That's where Da and Cloud went." Riku continued to eye the book, wondering if he opens it something will happen and he won't be able to turn back.

"Yes that is true, but what if they didn't make it to the lifestream? What would their spirit do then?"

"Find a way to go to the lifestream?" Riku guessed. His grandmother nodded.

"Exactly. Their spirits wander the worlds, trying to find the lifestream and meet their families once again. To do that, they seek help from gifted people." She pointed to the book in Riku's hands. "In that book contains the diary entries from your ancestors over the years. Their knowledge is now yours for you to read."

Riku dared to open the book, flipping through the pages quickly. Strange lettering appeared at the beginning but as the book went on the letters were the everyday ones he could recognise. "What's with the strange letters at the beginning?" he asked, showing the book to his grandmother.

"These" she said pointing to the letters, "are the ancient symbols used to tell the stories of the walking spirits. There is only one person in every generation that acquires this gift. Sometimes the gift many be lost for generations, but it always comes back when you least expect it."

Riku looked at the book once again. "So what is this gift? Is it that special?"

"This gift Riku must not be misused in any way, shape or form. Misuse of this gift can bring misery to the person."

"But seriously, what is it?" Riku's grandmother sighed at her grandson's impatience. He really was just like Sephiroth at his father's age.

"This gift is something many people will reject as they grow older. Many will look at you strangely, but don't reject this gift, promise?" She held out her pinky finger, knowing that Riku will never break a promise when he swore not to.

Not a second later without thinking it through Riku linked his finger with his grandmother's. "I promise on Da, Cloud and the lifestream to never break this promise which I have made to my gran-gran" recited Riku. This was the way anyone could tell that Riku would never break his promise. The chant was something he came up with whenever he set himself to do something.

"That's by boy." She ruffled Riku's hair only to get it pushed away gently followed by a few 'no's' and 'don'ts'. "Now this gift is very special." Riku leaned in closer to hear his grandmother better. "It is the gift, to see the walking spirits."

**Hope that was enjoyable to read. This is basically the prologue. The real stuff will happen as the chapters go on. If you're wondering I watched the episode where a soldier died during a war and was trying to find his family but couldn't. Melinda helped him and they lived happily ever after…well the ghost did anyway. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Well here's the start of the real plot. **

**Disclaimers – don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own the plotline.**

It's been ten years since Riku was told of his gift, but as the years have progressed Riku has gotten sick of his gift. Now it's more like a curse. Ghosts approach him left right and centre looking for his help and it's driving him insane! The last ghost Riku had to help was his own grandmother. She had dead just a few months ago and she needed help finding a book that had more of their ancestor's knowledge. Riku never saw his grandmother after that so he assumed she crossed over to the lifestream.

For a while now he's been focusing on his schoolwork. Ever since his parents death his grades have been slipping even though his grandmother hired numerous tutors. They usually quit after a couple of days when there was no hope for him. The longest he had a tutor was a week but he broke after Riku stabbed him with a pencil.

Riku couldn't exactly blame his slipping grades on ghosts appearing wherever he went. All the teachers and students laughed at him and called him a freak. He's been living alone ever since. He only had one real friend and that was a pyromaniac. His name's Axel and claims he's more of a freak than Riku. Of course Riku didn't believe him. That was until Axel decided to show Riku he could set himself on fire and escape without burns. Then Riku believed Axel was a freak.

Riku didn't dare tell Axel of his gift, just telling him he would be freaked out if he knew. Axel found Riku talking to himself at the shops after school one day and figured he just had personal issues.

It was after school one afternoon that Axel decided to bring Riku to his secret hideout in the forest. Riku reluctantly agreed to the pyro's request and was dragged in the direction of his grandmother's mansion. Yes Riku still lived there, but only during the summer holidays. The school had dorm rooms so Riku hired one with Axel.

Riku stopped at the mansion gates and watched as Axel looked for an open window. After Axel went around to the back of the mansion Riku sighed and pulled out his keys, one of them being the mansions.

Riku stepped inside the dusty mansion. His footsteps echoed through the mansion. Looking out the glass doors in front of him he could see Axel with his arms crossed and tapping his foot. Riku shrugged and unlocked the glass doors only to have the redhead punch his arm.

"What was that for?" Riku demanded rubbing his arm.

"For not telling me you had a key." Axel stepped into the mansion and looked around. "How did you even get a key to this place anyway?"

"This mansion belongs to my gran-gran. I live here during the summer holidays. I could report you for trespassing you know." Axel froze and turned to Riku, his eyes wide with fear.

"This is _your _mansion? Are you serious?" Now it was Riku's turn to cross his arms and tap his foot. "Dude, I didn't know anyone was still living here. I swear to the lifestream I had no idea. I always came here with a friend of mine to run around in the attic." Riku raised an eyebrow.

"So that was you? I placed mouse traps in there thinking it was rats. You know how big they can get." Riku punched Axel arm. "You're lucky you're my friend 'cause I'm not reporting you."

"I owe you one."

"Damn straight." Riku walked over to the closet that contained the brushes and mops. Grabbing a brush, mop and bucket he threw them at Axel who only caught the bucket and the poles to hit his head. "Seeing you like the attic so much, go up there and clean it."

"Clean it? Are you serious? Since when have I ever cleaned anything?"

"Do you want to be reported?" Axel grumbled to himself and grabbed the equipment, heading to the attic. Riku shook his head. No wonder why Axel was on crutches a while back. Those mouse traps can be quite nasty and really damage a person's limb. "Oh! The mouse traps are still up there so be careful!" he called. He was answered by a string of curses and death threats as he heard some of the traps setting off.

Sighing Riku went into the library. Most of the books still needed to be sorted and fixed. He had taken all the books from their shelves last year and was still working on it. Some books he found were in tatters beyond repair. There were also some of his grandmother's nick-knacks around the shelves, on the tables and on the windowsill.

Quite a few of the book were journals of his ancestors. As Riku's grown older, he began to wonder how his ancestors actually knew how to write. He knew a few of the symbols thanks to his grandmother, but as knew and stranger symbols appeared, he gave up and dumped the books back amoung the others.

Riku sighed heavily to himself as the small black book appeared after putting one of the many books on the shelf. Picking it up the book he opened it up a couple of pages in. It was the first entry his grandmother helped him translate. It read;

"_For three years now I have been "blessed" with the ability to see the walking spirits. I hate it. Look at me! A fifteen rotations girl who's been rejected by her tribe. I suppose in a way seeing the walking spirits can be rewarding. At day break today I was approached by a young walking spirit. She looked about five rotations and was very sweet. She wanted me to find her parents and tell them she was with her gran-gran. I went to see them like she wanted and was accused of being a witch associated with the devil. After explaining to them about their daughter they burst into tears saying I was exactly right. After doing all the normal stuff of saying what their daughter said, the little girl thanked me and passed into the light only she could see. Her parents thanked me afterwards and introduce me to their tribe. Surprisingly they accepted me straight away. Apparently their daughter was a significant symbol of their tribe and glad they had some sort of interpreter. They wished to know my secret but I only said it was a gift blessed by the Gods. I went from being rejected by my tribe to being a 'soul seeker' as they called it. Just because my tribe rejected me, I didn't reject my gift and I found a new tribe where they treat me with respect. To all those who read this, I pray you don't reject the gift. Good things will come in time. You just need to be patient."_

Riku sighed and shut the book. He wanted to reject the gift more than anything, but he remembered the promise he made to his grandmother. _"I promise on Da, Cloud and the lifestream to never break this promise which I have made to my gran-gran."_ From what Riku got from the entry was that the gift was a bad thing, you'll get rejected by everyone you know but you'll still live a happy life in some way or another. That just confused him and somehow reflected his life.

A loud thump came from the attic above. Axel must have fallen over one of the many boxes scattered around. Some very loud cursing followed soon after. Riku figured Axel couldn't find the light switch and was wandering around in the dark. So, after having much debate with himself, Riku finally decided that Axel could use _some_ sort of help.

To access the attic there was a pull-down ladder in his grandmother's bedroom, which was pulled down from Axel with a brush across the opening. Riku threw the brush aside only to have someone yell out. "Axel! What was that for?" In the dark Riku could make out the outline of another male.

"That wasn't me. I'm on the other side." There was another thump coming from Axel. "Ouch…That was probably Riku."

"Riku?" The boy sounded slight offended. "Who's Riku? You didn't bring him here to _our_ secret hid-" Before the boy could continue further, he found a figure standing directly in front of him.

"I _own_ this mansion" Riku said coldly. "And unless you're here to help Axel clean up I have every right to report you for trespassing on private property." The boy visibly gulped.

"This is…this is _your_…you live…"

The lights flicked on and Riku could get a full look at the boy. The boy's hair was blonde and neatly spiked; he had sapphire eyes which were wide with fright. As for the rest of him, Riku couldn't care less apart from the fact his body was shaking slightly. As long as he's seen their face, Riku can remember anyone he's met.

"Way to scare him Ku." Axel pulled the boy away from Riku. "This is the friend I was telling you about. Roxas met Riku. Riku, Roxas. Now let's get on with life!" Axel moved backwards only to fall over another box and snap his fingers in one of the mouse trap. Axel howled in pain. Roxas and Riku were at his side in an instant.

"You've got to watch where you're going" said Riku as he gently lifted the trap off Axel's fingers. Thankfully it was one of the smaller traps Riku and his grandmother set up at first.

"Watch where he's going? It's _your fault_ that Axel got his fingers caught in a stupid mouse trap!' Bit Roxas, helping Axel stand up.

"My fault!" challenged Riku. "These mouse traps wouldn't even _be_ here if it wasn't for you two!" Riku took Axel hand and grabbed an old first aid kit from one of the boxes. There was so many around the mansion so why not have one up in the attic?

"Us two! Who the hell do you think you are!" Riku held his breath, gave Axel the bandages with the simple instructions to just wrap it up, and advanced menacingly towards Roxas.

"Have you forgotten where you are?" Riku asked low and huskily. Roxas gulped and backed away until he was pressed against the wall. Riku hand was placed against the blonde's heart, feeling its rapid beating pulse around his hand. It felt good to have someone under his control. "This is _my_ mansion. My dear gran-gran past away not long ago and gave this mansion to me in her Will. Every summer holidays I would come here and fix up everything. Before that however, we could have sworn there were mice running around. My gran-gran hating mice asked me to place a few mouse traps around the attic; some small like the one Axel unfortunately had, and a couple of big ones seeing I could hear louder footsteps. Now you are on a fine line _boy_. Make _one_ more mistake on my property and I book you for trespassing. _Do I make myself clear?_" Roxas hastily nodded and watched as Riku was pulled away from him by Axel.

"I think Roxas and I should be leaving. We have a _long_ conversation ahead of us." Axel grabbed the protesting blonde's arm and headed out the mansion. Riku let a sigh of relief. That blonde was a nuisance the second he heard him shouting.

Now that he knew it was Axel and Roxas causing all the trouble in the attic Riku could finally get rid of the traps. Reaching for the closest trap, he stopped half way when a foot landed next to the trap. "Whacha doin'?" They sounded so innocent, but when Riku noticed blood covering his hand he knew something was wrong.

Forcing himself to stand back up be braced himself for a bloody sight. But it wasn't there. Instead there was a spiky brunette male standing in front of him with his hands behind his back. He was smiling like a child who got their first toy from a shop. Funnily enough he looked similar to Roxas, apart from the hair.

"Can I…help you?" Riku asked confusedly. The brunette simply shook his head.

"No. I was wondering where my brother went. He said he would only be a minute but he was taking to long. I see he's not here so I'll just be going." Before Riku could ask anything, the boy was gone in an instant.

Riku let out a loud groan and started slamming his head against the nearest wall. Why of all the places did he have to meet a ghost in his very own home? Now that he knew Riku could see him, he was bound to come back soon.

**And there you have it. Chapter 2. Not much to say on this just that I had this finished with the first chapter. **


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